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When we began restoring our heritage cottage, Petit Château, in the historic village of Oatlands, Tasmania, we expected a few surprises.
But we never imagined the stories that would be told through the layers of wallpaper hidden beneath modern plasterboard. With the help of a local historian, we uncovered fragments over 170 years old — delicate, intricate, and rich with the texture of time. What we found revealed not only the design tastes of a past era, but also the evolving lives of the people who once called this cottage home.
The Wallpaper Beneath the Walls
As we pulled away the plasterboard, small hints of colour and pattern began to emerge — remnants of wallpaper hidden for decades. To help us understand what we were looking at, we invited local Oatlands wallpaper historian, Alan Townsend, to examine the fragments. With a careful hand, Alan began removing samples from around the cottage and soaking them in warm, soapy water for days — sometimes weeks — to loosen the wallpaper glue that had fused layer upon layer over the years.
The glue itself, we learned, was made from flour… or, in some cases, animal remnants. Ye olden days, indeed.
A Gentle Unveiling
In some areas of the cottage, Alan discovered up to eight different layers of wallpaper — a visual history of style, class, and change. Incredibly, some homes in the area have revealed up to 30 layers. Once separated, each layer was laid out on rice paper to dry — a delicate process, since antique wallpaper is incredibly fragile and prone to tearing.
One of our oldest fragments turned out to be over 170 years old. Even more exciting, three of the designs found in our home matched previously discovered patterns in the Oatlands area, allowing us to see full reproductions in Alan’s studio.
Petit Chateau in Oatlands Tasmania
The recreated wallpaper sits pretty in the Powder Room
The original and oldest 1830’s wallpaper in the cottage
Recreating a 19th Century Wallpaper by Hand
To honour the oldest historic pattern found in our cottage, we chose to reintroduce it into the new Powder Room of our cottage extension. Alan reproduced the design by first hand-drawing each colour layer in pen and ink, then transferring the drawings to silk screens. Together, we colour-matched the original wallpaper colour using modern silk screen paints. One by one, Alan screen printed each layer onto the paper — carefully aligning each pass to recreate the full, original pattern. It’s an extraordinary process to watch unfold: slow, exacting, and deeply satisfying.
The Wallpaper That Made a Statement
Interestingly, many of our wallpaper fragments were found in the hallway — a space once treated with high importance. In the 19th century, hallways were formal: a place to wait, a space meant to impress. Our home featured five different layers of geometric Ashlar wallpaper, mimicking stone — a clear sign that previous occupants were doing their best to elevate the look of their working-class cottage.
Oatlands, it turns out, had access to luxury wallpaper as early as the 1850s — something made possible by the explosion of machine-printed wallpaper in England, which replaced the earlier, labour-intensive woodblock prints. This shift made ornate wallpaper more affordable and accessible, even to humble households in Tasmania.
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The cottage has taught us that history doesn’t just live in museums — it lives in walls, in paper, and in pattern.
The Blue That Meant Royalty
One of the most fascinating discoveries was the use of a vivid cobalt blue dye, which first appeared in Europe in the 1850s. From royal purples to brilliant blues, this colour suddenly became available to the masses — including the owners of our little sandstone cottage. For a time, having bright blue wallpaper was a statement: Look at me. I’m fashionable. I’ve made it.
Naturally, the trend faded as the colour grew in popularity — as trends do — but the blue remained quietly beneath the surface, waiting for us to find it again.
Honouring the Past Through Design
When we first discovered our wallpaper fragments, we couldn’t have imagined how much they would teach us. They’ve given us clues about the people who lived here before us, the aspirations they held, and the wider design story of Oatlands itself.
To honour that history, we’ve found gentle ways to reintroduce the past into the present — not as replicas, but as respectful nods to the beauty and meaning that was always there.
Article Source: Petit Chateau (the book) by Karen Miles
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